The Phantom Thief
by Ulyssa123
Summary: Danny wakes up trapped in a glowing box, completely alone and in the dark. What's worse, he has no memory of how he got there or who put him there. On top of that, he has to deal with two completely human thieves. One of which is the most confusing and hard to read person Danny has ever encountered. While the other, well, the other one just wants to sell him for his ghostly powers.
1. Chapter 1

_Hello! My name is Ulyssa! I try to write. This is my latest attempt! A Danny Phantom, White Collar cross over. I think the absolute funnest things to write about are cross overs involving Danny Phantom. That show is just so versatile. I feel like I could put it in any show because it's just so much fun. Haha. Or well... Maybe not. _

_Anyway, here is my first fanfiction! Oh and dont make fun of my title! I'm not very good at coming up with titles. So sue me. _

_The Phantom Thief_

_By Ulyssa_

* * *

Danny Phantom awoke with a start. Blinking rapidly he sat up quickly, only to hit his head on some kind of hard surface above him. A strangled cry of surprise made its way through the halfa's throat as he flopped back down, breathing hard and examining his surroundings. He was in a cage, a small cage, long enough for him to lay down in, but not long enough to stretch out in. The width of the cage was no better, he imagined he could probably crouch and be fine, but anything else would result in his head meeting the top in a fashion similar to his impromptu awakening. Groaning he decided to remain laying down, his legs folded upwards. Where ever he was, it was dark, even with his heightened ghost vision. He was in a small empty room and the only light provided came from his slightly glowing cage. Danny groaned again, the slight glow could only mean one thing.

"Ghost proof." He grumbled out loud, his voice cracking slightly. Placing a gloved hand over his glowing green eyes he thought back to the last thing he could remember. He had been in school, his ghost sense had gone off, and when he went to investigate he had come face to face with the box ghost. Danny removed the hand from his face and furrowed his brows, a disgusted look gracing the young boys features. _Is the _box_ ghost responsible for this? _He thought to himself, reaching up to touch the roof of his glass like box. He shook the thought from his head.

"Couldn't be him. He's not capable enough." Danny sighed, feelings of unease creeping into his chest. Whoever had put him in here hadn't hurt him. Danny moved his hand from the glass top and patted himself down. Nothing felt broken, and nothing was bleeding. That was a good sign. It definitely had to of been someone capable of planning something like this out. This, whatever it was, felt planned. Very planned. Danny swallowed hard, his heart fluttering.

"Vlad?" He mused to himself. He bit his lip and looked around the room again, if this was Vlad's handiwork, then where was the fruit loop?

"AUGH!" Danny let out a frustrated cry and kicked the wall of his prison, it rattled slightly, but held firm.

"This is stupid." The halfa groused. "Either Vlad's responsible for this, or..." He trailed off as a thought occurred to him. Remembering the last time he had been in a see through glowing box. That time being when Skulker had captured him. Though, Skulker had been working for Vlad. Danny huffed indigently and crossed his arms over his chest. He supposed he could do nothing but wait patiently for whoever had captured him to reveal themselves. He scowled into the darkness, didn't mean he had to like it though.

* * *

A loud banging on his front door roused criminal consultant Neal Caffrey from his slumber. Groaning unhappily the con man stumbled out of his bed gracelessly, despite always priding himself of his class, style and grace. There was only so much elegance a person could muster at four thirty in the morning, after being awoken from a dead sleep. Shirtless and grumpy, Neal pulled open his door and stared at the man on the other side with sleepy eyes, a frown on his lips.

"What?" He hissed, rubbing his eyes. The man on the other side of the door stepped back and examined Neal looking him up and down.

"Are you Neal Caffrey?" The man asked. Neal shook his head to clear it, slightly embarrassed that he had just opened his door wide for any random stranger. The man was tall and lanky. His skin was lightly tanned. It appeared as if he had once been very dark, but the tan had faded away leaving naturally brown, albeit lighter skin in its place. The man wore a dark red bandana with well used, and scratched goggles atop his head. The hair that wasn't covered by the bandana was dark black and sticking up at all different angles, giving it a wild appearance.

"Who are you?" Neal demanded, grumpiness at the late hour pushing away his normal charm and charisma. The man smiled a toothy grin. His smile wasn't disarming like Neal's, it appeared intimidating, predatory.

"My name is, Che Guerra. Please, call me Che." The mans accent was heavy and obviously Hispanic. Che stepped forward and walked past Neal, inviting himself inside. Out of the hallway, Neal could see the man a little better. He was wearing a white button down dress shirt with the sleeves torn off, and baggy black pants stuffed into heavy duty black work boots. A dark red tribal tattoo covered his entire right arm as well as the right side of his neck and the lower portion of his face and jaw.

"What can I do for you, Mr. Guerra?" Neal asked, leaving the door open in case he needed to make a quick get away. Che tightened the coat that was tied around his waist. He wore fingerless gloves. Neal scoffed at the useless things. What was the point of wearing gloves if they didn't hide your fingerprints?

"I hear people say that you are a art thief?" Che reached inside his jacket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. His dark brown eyes never leaving Neal's face. Neal stared at the man silently.

"And who exactly says that?" Neal asked. If this man was here to offer him something illegal, then Neal felt like he should investigate and see what he could dig up. Maybe it would be something useful to Peter.

"It is not important who says that. What is important is what I can offer you." Che smacked the cigarette box against the palm of his hand a few times, falling into silence.

"What exactly do you think you have that I would want?" Neal asked crossing his arms over his chest as he watched Che pull a lighter out of his jacket pocket and light the cigarette.

"The ultimate tool for a thief such as yourself. Though, you will have to see it before I explain it to you. Otherwise, you would not ever believe me." Che took a long drag on his cigarette. Neal wrinkled his nose, but otherwise kept silent about the smoke. Neal eyed the man suspiciously, both occupants were silent for a few tense moments before Neal relented, his shoulders slumping in what appeared to be a more relaxed manner. At least, that's the manner he was attempting to exude. In reality he was as tense and on edge as ever.

"All right. You've got me curious. Wait for me outside, I'll get dressed and you can show me whatever it is you want me to see." Neal stepped aside and gestured for the man to leave. Che smiled widely, the cigarette dangling from his mouth loosely and made his leave.

"Of course, I'll see you in ten minutes." Che walked out the door, his cigarette glowing dimly in the darkened hallway. Neal closed the door behind the man quietly, and then rushed over to his bed. Where his phone was sitting on the bed side table. Picking it up he quickly dialed Mozzie's number. Mozzie picked up on the second ring, his voice clear and cheery.

"You're up early." Mozzie's little cell phone voice announced happily. Neal made a face.

"So are you. I didn't wake you did I?" He asked walking over to his closet to get dressed. Mozzie made a tsking noise.

"Of course not. Following conventional sleeping patterns is how people get kidnapped by the gov't." Mozzie explained. Neal rolled his eyes as he struggled to put on his slacks one handed.

"Right. Well, some man just knocked on my door and told me he had some important big thing to show me. Said it's something incredibly valuable to a thief and that he has to show it to me otherwise I wont believe it." Neal explained, pulling on a light peach colored, silk, button down shirt. Mozzie was silent on the other end for a few contemplative moments.

"Are you going to go with him?" He finally asked, sounding a little less chipper. Neal sighed,

"Of course I am. It could be something dangerous. And if it really is something as great as he claims and someone else gets their hands on it, then it would cause a lot of trouble for me and Peter." Neal explained, picking up a dark blue silk jacket to match his pants.

"And, you want to see if its something worth buying." Mozzie put it. Neal smiled, but didn't comment.

"The guys name is Che Guerra. At least, that's what he told me his name was." Neal searched through his silk ties picking out simple black one.

"Ah, Che. I've heard of him. He makes his fortunes by selling things of, necessity to people of our profession." Mozzie explained, being vague and cryptic.

"So, he's not someone too dangerous?" Neal asked almost done getting dressed. Mozzie made an indignant scoffing noise.

"Of course he's dangerous! He loves to play with fire, his expertise are with BOMBS. Though when people need something to help them break into a safe, or pull a con, hes the one with all the toys. He's also unpredictable, and unconventional,"

"Which explains why he showed up at my house at four in the morning." Neal interrupted, giving himself a once over in the mirror.

"He's also more then likely just trying to make a quick sell with the nearest known thief. Which in this case would be you." Mozzie explained, still sounding irritated. Neal plastered a confident and slightly arrogant smirk on his face, deciding to play the cocky thief for his new acquaintance outside. The face dropped briefly as he responded to Mozzie,

"I'm going to see what he's got. My ten minutes are up." Mozzie sighed on the other end, exasperated with the younger mans brazen disregard for safety.

"Fine. But Neal. Be careful." Neal hung up the phone in response, the smirk returning to his features.

* * *

He counted to five hundred, he tapped his foot one hundred times, he hummed three songs, he yelled for someone ten times, Went intangible three times, and shot an ecto blast once (something he would not try again as the ecto blast had reverberated around the cell for a good minute, before fizzling out.) Until he got bored with each activity and finally just fell into an uncomfortable, restless and uneasy silence. It was mind numbing. He had no idea how long he had been laying the box, in the dark, doing nothing. Danny wondered if this was how solitary confinement felt. At least in solitary the prisoners could pace. Danny really wanted to pace. Anything would be better then just laying here, staring into the dark. The halfa rolled onto his side, then onto his stomach. Getting up on his hands and knees he looked at the ground. There was absolutely nothing interesting about it. He sighed in irritation and maneuvered his body so that he was sitting criss cross apple sauce in the middle of his prison, his head tilted slightly to the side to avoid the roof of the cage.

"Helloooooooooo!" Danny yelled loudly, his own voice echoing through out the room. Finally, just as he was entertaining the idea of using his ghostly wail, a quiet noise in front of him drew his attention. Tensing, Danny stared straight ahead, his eyes wide as he tried to make out any details in the pitch blackness. He still couldn't see anything though, there was another quiet scraping noise, which set Danny on edge. The halfa clenched his fists and adjusted his body so that he was sitting on his knees. His head was still slightly bent at an angle, but he felt more prepared in his new position. Finally light filled the room as someone pushed open a door that Danny hadn't even know was there. Danny blinked rapidly, his sensitive ghost eyes adjusting to the change in darkness. He didn't look away though, instead he watched intensely as two dark silhouette's stood framed in the door in front of him.

"Right this way, Mr. Caffrey." A man with a thick Hispanic accent made a sweeping gesture and Danny watched as a second man, who he guessed was Mr. Caffrey, walked into the room. The only defining feature Danny could make out was the fedora perched on the mans silhouetted head.

"So, what is it that you wanted to show me?" Caffrey asked. His voice was smooth and full of confidence. Danny frowned and swallowed hard, pretty sure he was what was about to be shown off. Caffrey stepped further into the room, though it was still too dark to make him out clearly. Suddenly light filled the room with a loud popping noise. The harsh florescent glare cause Danny to wince, but he was still determined to keep his eye on the new people who had entered the room, so he managed not to look away. Caffrey locked eyes with Danny the moment the lights turned on, his eyes growing wide in an expression that looked like shock and even horror. Danny frowned at the man, he seemed confused.

"What is this Che?" Caffrey asked, his face darkening slightly with anger, his eyes dropping to the floor. The Hispanic, Che, was standing behind Caffrey, his hands on his hips, a cigarette between his fingers.

"Tell me Mr. Caffrey. What do you know about ghosts?" He asked bringing the cigarette up to his lips. Caffrey looked back up at Danny, and the halfa could swear he saw an apologetic smile flit across the mans face, only to be replaced seconds later by a cold, calculating and smug look. Caffrey turned away from Danny and looked back at Che.

"I know they don't exist. What I don't know is why you have this child locked up in a cage." Caffrey asked, he sounded interested and curios. He didn't sound very concerned, despite the mans earlier expression. Che sighed and walked past Caffrey, over to Danny's prison. Danny glared coolly at the man. He still had no idea what was going on, and he wasn't about to give anything about himself away.

"But they _do_ exist. And they have a wide variety of," He paused and took a drag of his cigarette, "Abilities that make them useful to people like you." He pulled the cigarette from his mouth and dropped it. Crushing it with his heel his smiled at Caffrey.

"What kind of abilities?" Caffrey sounded curious, and skeptical, mostly curious though. Che smiled, then he laughed loudly, throwing back his head dramatically.

"They can walk through walls! Disappear, and fly, they can even go invisible. Think of the possibilities, the things you could steal with such an ability." Che waved his hands wildly and watched Neal excitedly. Caffrey stared at the man, the smug look dropping slightly from his face, until he finally gave an exasperated sigh.

"Yes, that would certainly be useful. That still doesn't explain the boy though." Caffrey looked away from Che and back down at Danny. The halfa squirmed uncomfortably, he had never been in a situation like this before. One he couldn't fight his way out of, or one where he didn't know the people and he didn't quiet know what to do. These two men, they were real criminals. They kind you would find on the street or somewhere other then Amity park. They weren't ghosts and Danny didn't know how to handle them.

"This _boy_ as you called him. Is not a boy at all, he is a ghost. A _phantom_." Che explained simply. Caffrey looked at Che skeptically.

"There's no such thing, Mr. Guerra. Don't tell me you kidnapped a child because you thought he was a ghost." Caffrey crossed his arms over his chest, looking haughtily at Che. He looked like he was about to leave. Danny bit the inside of his cheek. He didn't care what either men did, as long as it got him out of the cage. Che sighed fakely.

"Well I can see how you would be skeptical, Mr. Caffrey. But, I assure you this boy is indeed a ghost. You will notice his cage, it is a ghost cage. Or rather a shield, observe." Che turned to make sure Caffrey was watching and then reached out to touch the cage. Only, instead of meeting the surface of the cage, his hand passed right through the seemingly solid material. Danny thought about grabbing onto the mans hand and doing, something, but before he could come up with a good plan Che removed his hand. Danny watched as Caffrey's eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"How did you do that?" he asked walking over to the cage quickly. He bent down to examine it, placing a finger on his chin as he thought.

"I told you Mr. Caffrey, it is a cage for ghosts. Not for humans." Che Smiled as he watched Caffrey stare at the slightly glowing pink material intently. Caffrey looked away from the cage and down at Danny for a split second. Their eyes met, and Danny watched as Caffrey's face softened slightly with concern. It only lasted a moment and when he turned back to Che, his face was smug and aloof. Danny made a face. This Caffrey guy was incredibly hard to read. He kept switching from acting like a heartless smug thief to a normal concerned person.

"If this boy really is a..." The Caffrey guy paused and skepticism filled his features, "Ghost, why would you be selling his abilities instead of using them yourself?" Caffrey finally asked, turning away from Danny. Danny watched the two unhappily as they talked about him like he was some kind of mindless tool.

"You know I _am_ sitting right here." Danny finally snapped at them. He was done playing the docile captive. Both men seemed startled by the sudden outburst. Neal raised an eyebrow at Che, the Hispanic man just shrugged. "And who said I'm going to let any one use my abilities" Danny lifted his hands and put air quotes around the word, abilities, crossing his arms over his chest indignantly. They couldn't control him! He _was_ a ghost after all. The second they let him out of the cage to do anything, he would just fly away. Che and Neal exchanged glances, but otherwise ignored the ourburst.

"See this over here Mr. Caffrey?" Che walked to the wall farthest away from the door. There was a metal glowing box leaning up against the wall with a dark cord running from the box to the pink glowing cage. Danny frowned at being ignored, and also at the fact that he hadn't noticed the box sooner.

"What is that?" Caffrey asked, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"This is the control panel for the ghosts cage." Che opened the box to show Caffrey all the different buttons. Danny swallowed nervously when he noticed the button with the little lightning bolt next to it.

"Where did you get this thing?" Caffrey finally asked. Danny looked up at him, he looked confused. Che smiled,

"Lets just say, I have my ways." The Hispanic man explained cryptically. Caffrey stared at him like an adult would stare at a petulant child.

"I'd rather you just say who you stole it from." Caffrey scowled at the man.

"Fine, fine. I took everything from some rich man from Wisconsin." Che relented.

"What do you mean, everything? Is there more then the cage?" Caffrey asked not looking away from Che. The Hispanic man shrugged.

"The ghost was already in the cage when I took it. Then there was also the bracelet." Che put his finger on the button with the lighting bolt next to it. "ghost, would you mind showing our friend your invisibility power."

"Yeah, I would mind." Danny snapped at him. He felt light headed. Obviously this Che guy had stolen from Vlad! Which wasn't the part that really concerned Danny. What worried the halfa was the fact that he had already been captured and in Vlad's possession and he couldn't even remember how he had gotten there.

"I asked you nicely ghost, I don't want to have to push this button." Che reasoned, his tone suggesting the exact opposite. Danny cringed and closed his eyes. He would give them absolutely no proof that he was a ghost. Well, he would give the Caffrey guy no proof. He didn't know what he had already shown the Che guy, as he couldn't really remember all that far back, but he would be damned if he let Caffrey see him do anything ghostly!

"Wait." Caffrey's voice caused Danny to open his eyes. Caffrey was staring down at Danny, a greedy glint in his eyes. Danny glared at the man.

"What is it Mr. Caffrey?" Che seemed slightly disappointed at not being able to push the button.

"I want to see the bracelet you stole. Is it something I can use to control the ghost?" He asked, looking up at Che, all skepticism gone from his voice. Che nodded his head and stepped away from the box.

"Of course Mr. Caffrey!" You wont mind if I ask you to wait here while I retrieve it?" The Hispanic man asked, walking towards the door quickly. Caffrey shrugged and smiled brightly.

"Not at all." Che left the room quickly, pulling the door shut behind him as he left. There were a few seconds of silence and then Danny watched in surprise as once again, Caffrey's entire demeanor changed.

"Are you all right?" He asked kneeling down to look at Danny. Taken aback the halfa made a confused face at him.

"Is this a trick? One minute you're eye balling me like I'm a precious diamond and then next your acting all concerned?" Danny asked leaning away from Caffrey's piercing blue gaze.

"Sorry, I had to make him think I was interested, or it could have ended badly for both of us." Caffrey reached his hand out tentatively and touched the pink ghost shield, or at least he tried to, his hand slipped through it and the man pulled his hand back in alarm.

"I don't know whats going on, but can you really not get out of there?" He asked standing up quickly. Danny just shrugged his shoulders. He still didn't want to give anything away, he didn't trust the Caffrey guy still. Caffrey huffed unhappily at the silence. "I don't know whats going on right now. I'm sorry you have to be apart of Mr. Guerra's delusions, but I'll make sure I get you out of here." He walked over to the little box leaning against the wall quickly, and bent down to examine it. Danny eyed the man skeptically, was this some kind of trick or was this man really going to help him get out. A moment ago he looked like he would sell his own mother just to get a hold of something as valuable as a ghost.

"Are you serious?" Danny turned around, a difficult task in the small enclosure, and pressed his hands up against the force field excitedly. Caffrey turned around, a confidant smile on his face,

"Of course-" He faltered slightly when he saw Danny touching the walls, unable to go through it like everyone else, "Just, ah, make sure you get far away from here before Guerra comes back." He turned back around and continued to fiddle with the box. Danny leaned back, against the opposite side of the box so that he was watching Caffrey.

"If you open the back of the box, there should be a green glowing thing. If you pull that out then the cage should turn off." Danny explained. Caffrey nodded his head, but didn't turn around. There were some quiet scrapping sounds as he messed with the box and then a dim green light suddenly appeared in front of him. Danny craned his neck to the left, attempting to get a look inside of the box. Unfortunately Caffrey was crouched right in front of it so Danny couldn't see anything.

"Ecto converter?" Caffrey finally mumbled to himself. "I've never heard of..." he trailed off and Danny could here a snapping sound, followed quickly by the cage flickering and finally disappearing.

"Yes!" Danny jumped up from his crouched position and into the air triumphantly. He was free! Caffrey turned around and his entire face paled. He fell onto his bottom with a startled, 'oomph' and stared up at the now floating boy.

"Y-your flying!" Caffrey gawked. Now it was Danny's turn to be the confidante one. Smirking he gave Caffrey a smug two fingered salute.

"I'm a ghost! It's kinda what we do." He laughed happily and turned intangible, giving the extremely confused man on the ground a once over before flying up and out of the building.

* * *

Neil watched as the boy flew upwards and slipped through the ceiling. Che was right, having a ghost help with a heist would have been useful. Neil's thoughts ground to a halt. _A ghost? _Neil brought a shaking hand up to his forehead.

"This is all some kind of disgusting joke. Has to be." He nodded to himself, still sitting on the ground. Ghosts? Neil smiled, it was a ridiculous thought. One he would not entertain because this was all obviously a well thought out trick. Taking a shaky breath, and laughing a little uncertainly Neil stood up, just as Che re entered the room.

"Here it is Mr-" Che stopped dead in his tracks, holding up some strange slightly glowing metal bracelet. The Mexican man stared wide eyed at Neil, who was dusting off the the back of his pants.

"Ah. Che, You're back." Neil nodded at the man. Sure that Che and maybe some other people were going to step into the room and all have a good laugh at the elaborate joke that was just pulled. Neil smiled at the man, curious to find out how the untouchable box and the flying stunt had been pulled off.

"Y-You! What have you done?" Che stormed forward, eyes glued to the spot where the glowing force field had been. Neil shrugged.

"Your ghost seems to of managed to get away." Neil walked forward, hands behind his back confidently. Ready for this joke to be over with. He was slightly irritated at being woken up so early just for a silly prank. No matter how realistic it had seemed. Che responded by cursing loudly in Spanish. His entire body shaking. Neil stopped his causal pace forward and eyed the Mexican man. He swallowed nervously. The prank was over, no need to drag things out. And yet, that rage seemed pretty sincere. Neal could tell. He was, after all, a master at reading people.

"Have you let the ghost free? What is it that you are doing over there? You think this is a game, Caffrey?" Che hissed angrily, his dark face turning red with rage. The smile fell from Neal's face.

"There's no such thing as ghosts." He finally managed to mumble out quietly in defense. The color in Che's face grew a darker shade of red, and his breathing increased in speed.

"There are. And _you _just let one go free. This is the same as stealing and you..." Che stormed forward and grabbed Neal by the front of his shirt angrily. "Will pay for this." Neal fell silent. For once in his life he had no idea what to say. Ghosts were not real. Even if they were, you couldn't sell them. They were supposed to be elusive, things seen only out of the corner of your eye or in a blurry photograph.. Stuff like that.

"I-" Neal started, but the words stuck in his throat when Che shoved Neal away and took a step backwards, pulling a sawed off, rugged looking shot gun out from behind him.

"You will pay with cash, or you will pay with your life." Che growled, cocking the shot gun. Neal swallowed. He was confused. He was intimidated, and he was unsure. He didn't know if ghosts were real, but what he did know was that Che believed he had lost money and that that loss was Neal's fault. Which was enough information to get Neal talking. As if his brain had been kicked into gear, Neal raised his hands. He plastered a confused look on his face, though it wasn't that hard to fake one, considering he had never been more confused in his life.

"Me pay?" Neal started, looking indignant. "Why should _I _have to pay for anything? I sat here and watched your ghost break out of his cage!" Neal spat, looking disgusted.

"What are you speaking of?" Che snapped, but Neal could see the sudden hesitation. It gave him enough confidence to push his con forward.

"Your ghost. It broke out of your shield easily! Broke your little box thing too! You expect me to _buy _anything ghost related from _you_, when your equipment doesn't even work?" Neal waved his hand dismissively. "You have no idea what you're doing. Clearly." He rolled his eyes and started forward, walking past Che quickly. He was almost to the door when Che spoke up, his voice loud and angry.

"Mr. Caffrey." Neal turned around his aloof expression dropping away instantly. Che held in his hand a small green grenade. A wide manic smile was lighting up his face and, held in between his teeth, a little pin. "Your life it is."

And with that, he threw the grenade.

* * *

_Thank you very much for reading. I will try to write more at a later time. All your comments and reviews are very much appreciated. ALL of them. I want to hear from you! More then you know. Well actually, I'm sure all you fellow fanfic writers know exactly how much I want reviews. Because in the end, isnt that what we all want? _


	2. Ghostly Encounters

_Hello All! Look, I've written another chapter. I hope you all like it. _

Chapter 2: Ghostly encounters

* * *

Neal watched, his eyes widening in horror as Che lobbed the grenade at him. He gasped in surprise and stumbled backwards, raising his arms in defense. As if that would stop him from being blown up. But, just as the grenade thunked on the ground at his feet, Neal felt a strange tingling sensation which was quickly followed by blackness, and flashing colors and a terrible disorienting vertigo. Not quiet comprehending how it had happened, Neal found himself sitting on the ground for the second time that day. His surroundings had completely changed and worst of all, the ghost was back. It was crouching in front of him, its left hand gripping his ankle, and it's right hand held up in the air, a green glowing orb filling its palm with light.

"You okay?"

"Shit!" Neal scrambled backwards when the ghost spoke. He wasn't sure if he was reacting sensibly or not, but he couldn't seem to get a hold of himself. The fact that the ghost in front of him had proven itself to be real was still boggling his mind. The ghost raised its left hand in the air, as if to show it wasn't a threat. The ghost's right hand still held the orb of green light. Which lit up the tunnel they were in and cast eerie shadows along the walls and the slow running water on his right.

"Hey! I'm not going to hurt you. I'm a good ghost! Honest!" The ghost offered a weak smile. Neal scooted back a little further.

"Good _ghost? _There's not such thing as _ghosts._" He snapped. Sure the evidence contrary to his sentence was overwhelming, but he figured if he kept arguing against the fact then maybe things would start making sense again.

"No such thing?" The ghost cocked its head to the side looking down at the ground. It appeared to be confused. Neal glared, it was probably just tricking him so that it could posses him or something. He wondered idly if this was how people got possessed. "This is so weird." The ghost spoke up again, looking at Neil strangely. "I'm guessing this means I'm not in Amity Park." The ghost hazard.

"Amity Park? This is New York." Neal answered. He took a deep breath and watched the ghosts face fall. It looked upset. Taking a few more deep breaths Neal began to calm down. As far as he could tell, he wasn't actively in any danger. He needed to calm down and think the situation through. He couldn't keep freaking out. Even if there _was _an upset looking ghost right in front of him. Deciding he should figure out where he was, the con man looked around. He was no longer in the warehouse. It now appeared as though he was sitting in, the sewers of new york city. If the filthy water to his right, the slimy walls and the faint scratching noises,that no doubt belonged to retreating rats, were anything to go by.

"How did we get here?" Neal asked, his voice weak. He was still having a hard time accepting the fact that he was speaking to a ghost. It was just too strange.

"Oh, well I came back when I thought about how that guy might be a little angry with you for letting me go free." The ghost smiled brightly, his white teeth slightly green thanks to the emerald colored orb of light he held in his palm. "Good thing too, huh? I got there and saw him yelling at you. You're a really good liar by the way, you almost made it out." The ghost explained. Neal frowned, not sure how to respond to the compliment.

"So you came back, still doesn't explain how we got down here." He reiterated.

"When that guy threw the grenade at you, I sorta dive bombed you, grabbed you, and pulled you through the floor. I guess we ended up in the sewers." The ghost elaborated, gesturing around them. Neal just stared at the ghost. He didn't know what to say so he just stared. The ghost rubbed the back of his neck, looking uncomfortable. It didn't seem dangerous, if anything it just seemed like a teenage boy with weird powers. Well, he technically _was _a teenage boy. Or at least, he had been.

A ghost was just a dead person after all. As the ghost was a teenage boy, Neal decided he wasn't all bad. A ghost was a dead person, not a demon. Though Neal supposed he wouldn't be able to tell if this thing he was talking to was a ghost or a demon in the first place. He assumed demons would be more evil. Then again the thing in front of him could just be tricking him. Neal stared at the ghost, thinking hard, so far it had done nothing harmful. It had even saved him. Neal sighed and, after much internal debate, and upon taking another deep calming breath, stuck out his hand.

"Neal Caffrey." He introduced himself. If he had to accept that ghosts were real, he at least wanted to be friendly with this one. It didn't seem bad. He figured if he stayed on this ghosts good side it wouldn't devour his soul. Or whatever it was that ghost and demons did.

"Danny Phantom." The ghost beamed and stuck out a gloved hand. Neal shook it, shivering at the ice-cold touch.

"Mr. Phantom." Neal repeated the name. Leave it to a teenage ghost to have a name like _that. _"I guess we better find a way out of here." Neal pushed himself up off the ground, trying to subtlety shake the cold out of his hand.

"No problem. I can get us out of here!" Danny jumped into the air and smiled confidently. Neal tensed at the sudden display of ghostly power. But remained upright this time.

"How? Do you know the way out?" Neal asked, clearing his throat nervously. Danny pointed to the ceiling.

"Uh, yeah. Same way we got in." He responded, as if it was obvious. Neal frowned at the ghosts tone of voice. The ghost faltered slightly, "I'll go up there and see what happened to that guy that threw the grenade. Danny's face paled slightly. "I hope he didn't get blown up or something..." Danny mumbled to himself, as if the very idea sickened him. Neal crossed his arms and watched as the ghost floated upwards and blinked out of sight, taking the glowing green light with him. Neal squinted at the sudden darkness for a few seconds before pulling out his phone quickly. He flipped open the phone, Miraculously he had a signal. It was too weak for a phone call, but strong enough for a text. Which was all he needed. Opening a new text and addressing it to Peter he typed his message.

_'Explosion not my fault. Look up Che Guerra and Danny Phantom.' _

He pressed send and stuffed the phone back into his pocket. He figured he would have to tell Peter about the nights escapades anyway, it's not like he could deny being here if anyone wanted to know where he had been all night they would just have to look at his tracking data. And if he told Peter the truth now, it wouldn't look like he was being sneaky. He _was_ a criminal after all, the more open he was with Peter the better. He waited about another minute in the dark. Tapping his foot impatiently and staring up at the ceiling until Danny tumbled out of the solid concrete. The ghost was no longer holding the green light, but a soft glow was emanating from the ghosts body. It wasn't bright, but it was enough light for Neal to watch the ghost. Which was all he was really concerned with. If he had to been in the same room as a ghost, he would rather be able to see said ghost.

"Anyone up there?" Neal asked quietly. Danny nodded enthusiastically.

"Yup. Some cops. They probably came to check out the explosion. Most of the warehouse fell down. Not all of it though, so there are also some fire fighters and stuff." Danny shrugged and floated down towards the ground. Neal raised an eyebrow at him, wondering why he sounded so happy about the authorities.

"Did you see Guerra's body?" Neal asked, changing the subject suddenly and wondering at the way the ghost boys face fell at the mention of his captors death.

"Uh, no. I wasn't really looking. But the cops are up there. Which means its safe for you now. Right? Even if that guy is still alive. He can't do anything to you now that there are cops."

"Che might not be able to do anything. But..." Neal trailed off and gestured down to his ankle. Lifting up his pant leg he showed the ghost boy the high tech tracker. Neal dropped his pant leg and looked up at Danny with a shrug.

"Oh. So you really _are_ a criminal?" Danny asked, there was a slight edge to the ghost boys voice and Neal watched his posture tense as if Danny was getting ready to fight. Neal sighed, and turned away from the ghost, pretending to be deep in thought. Really, he just didn't want to face a suddenly angry ghost teenager. He knew nothing about living teenagers, let alone dead ones.

"I was. That was a long time ago though. I work as a consultant with the police." Neal explained, keeping his voice steady. The con man turned to look at Danny. To his relief the ghost seemed to of relaxed. Slightly.

"So why don't you want to go up there if there are cops up there?" Danny asked after a beat of silence. Neal turned back around to face the ghost.

"Because. I'm still a criminal. They would arrest me first and ask questions later. They don't care that I'm trying to help them. I'm, just a criminal." Neal shrugged again and watched as a strange emotion flickered across the ghosts face.

"They think you're evil even though you do good?" Danny mumbled questionably. Neal nodded slightly, evil was going a little far. They didn't really trust him, but he doubted anyone thought he was _evil. _Neal wasn't going to argue technicalities with the ghost though so instead he just remained silent and waited for Danny to say something else. When the silence dragged on for far too long Neal cleared his throat. The noise seemed to jolt Danny out of whatever he was thinking about and the ghost rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"So, you were going to get me out of here?" Neal asked nervously. The first time he had fallen through the ceiling he hadn't even noticed what had happened. Maybe the second time would be the same.

"Oh yeah!" Danny jumped into the air again, this time Neal managed to keep his reaction to a slight grimace. "I'm going to go behind you and grab you under the arms and lift you up okay?" Danny explained, making his way around Neal.

"W-wait! You're going to lift me up?" Neal spun around and stumbled away from the ghost, eying him suspiciously. He was at least three times bigger then the small ghost boy. As if reading his mind, Danny smiled easily.

"I'm stronger than I look."

"Wait! It would be better if the police didn't see me. Maybe we should walk further down the sewer tunnel and do this. That way we wont be coming out right next to the police!" Neal took another step backwards, trying to stall. He trusted that the ghost wasn't about to suddenly attack him. He didn't trust him enough to let Danny pick him up and carry him _anywhere._. Danny hesitated and seemed to consider Neal's suggestion.

"Nah, I'll just keep us invisible until we get far enough away from the police." With no other excuses jumping readily to his mind Neal let the ghost float behind him and grab him under the armpits. Neal shuddered, he could feel the chill of Danny's hands even through his jacket and shirt. "Don't worry. I wont let you fall." Danny spoke up, trying to be reassuring. Neal swallowed hard. He wasn't reassured. Not one little bit.

* * *

Danny gripped the criminal's arms and started to lift him off the ground. The second the mans feet left the earth Danny heard him gasp unhappily. Danny bit the inside of his check. He could tell the man was terrified of suddenly being air born. Actually, he could tell the man was just terrified in General. Danny could tell Neal was trying to remain calm, but he was defiantly scared of being around a ghost. Turning them both intangible and invisible elicited another fearful, but quiet gasp from Neal. In fact, if it wasn't for Danny's super hearing the halfa wouldn't have been able to hear the small noise at all.

"Just make sure you stay quiet. We're invisible, but the cops aren't deaf." Before Neal could answer him they drifted through the ceiling. Danny didn't look down to see Neal's reaction. Instead he put his focus on the room they were flying through. Police and fire fighters we're searching the remnants of the building. Dusty beams of light swept the room as the officials attempted to figure out what exactly had caused the explosion. Danny flew past them all, and higher into the sky.

"Whoa..." Danny mumbled out loud, looking around the city. He was in _New York. _He had never been in a city like this before. Danny looked around idly, floating upwards steadily and feeling the excitement of being in a new place. He was so lost in his thoughts that he almost forgot about the man he was currently lifting up into the air with him. He was reminded when Neal, completely disregarded Danny's request for them to be quiet. Not that Danny suspected it mattered. They were pretty high up now. Which was probably what Neal was so concerned with.

"This is far enough. The police wont be able to see us. You can put me down now. Put me DOWN now." Neal was almost shouting by the end of his sentence. Danny frowned when he felt Neal's hands wrap around his forearms.

"Stop squirming. And let go of my arms! I'll set you down..." Danny looked along the ground and noticed that it was full of people. There were tons of people in the streets and even in most of the ally ways.

"This isn't down! Why are we still flying?" Neal snapped angrily gripping Danny's arms tighter. Danny winced and searched for a good place to set them both down. There were people everywhere though. Even on the roof tops.

"There's too many people everywhere. They'll see us! Do you have a house or something I can take you to?" Danny asked. He didn't really want to suddenly become visible in the middle of a crowd of people. He still didn't know how he had ended up in New york and he wanted to keep as low a profile as he possibly could. Neal's hands loosened some.

"My house? Yeah its that-that one over there!" A particularly strong gust of wind knocked into them, causing Neal to shout the end of his sentence fearfully, his hands tightening once again.

"That big huge one?" Danny asked flying over to it quickly. They had only left the warehouse a few minutes ago. Neal's house wasn't even a mile away from the place.

"Yes! The big one. Just set me down on the balcony over there." Neal hissed. Danny rolled his eyes, Neal could follow a dangerous man into a dark and sketchy warehouse to discuss stolen goods, but he couldn't handle a little flying through the city? Danny blew out a puff of air. He supposed most people wouldn't like being carried through the city by a teenager. But still. Danny flew to the balcony as quickly as he could, trying to keep his pace slow and deliberate so as not to frighten Neal any more. When they finally reached the concrete Danny set Neal down gently, and released him, returning visibility to them both.

"Safe and sound." Danny smiled and watched as Neal stumbled away from him. It looked like he was having a hard time keeping himself upright. Neal's legs were shaking and he was mumbling something to himself. Neal turned around.

"Thank you for your assistance Mr. Phantom. I'm sorry about Mr. Guerra capturing you." Neal cleared his throat and ran a shaking hand through his dark hair. Danny eyed the criminal skeptically.

"Are you okay?" He asked, landing on the balcony. Neal took a deep calming breath.

"I'm fine. Just..." He trailed off searching for the right words, "This is all a lot to take in." He said, smiling hesitantly. Danny smiled slightly back. It was still weird to him that Neal was having such a hard time because Danny was a ghost. Well, actually, most people in Amity would have been terrified if they came face to face with a ghost. But not for the same reason as Neal. Neal didn't actually believe in ghosts. Danny supposed his very existence was shaking everything that Neal believed in, which was why the criminal looked like he was having a difficult time processing his realization that ghosts were real after all. Danny rubbed the back of his neck, he felt slightly awkward that he was having such a weird effect on another person. He supposed there was nothing he could do about it and decided it would be best if he just left. He needed to find a way to contact Jazz and get help.

"Well, Thanks fo-" Before Danny could finish his sentence, something solid, strong and moving very _very _fast slammed into his side. Whatever it was, it knocked the breath right out of his lungs and turned him intangible at the same time, sending him through the concrete balcony and down towards the city streets below. Danny yelled in surprise as he tumbled through the air, momentarily forgetting he could fly. Suddenly his momentum stopped and Danny gasped for breath. The halfa realized that two arms were wrapped around his waist, suspending him in midair. Danny, still gasping for breath, craned around to see who was holding him. Confusion and then anger boiled up inside of him at the sight.

"Hello Daniel." It was Vlad. Danny Squirmed and pushed himself out of Vlad's grasp.

"What they hell Vlad?" He yelled, floating away from Vlad and doubling over, a hand on his chest as he tried to catch his breath. Vlad had hit him pretty damn hard.

"Is that anyway to speak to your dear uncle?" Vlad asked innocently floating closer to Danny. Danny responded by floating further away,

"You just flying tackled me through a floor." Danny snapped back. Vlad shrugged.

"I turned you intangible first."

"You still tackled me." Danny grumbled, looking around. The balcony was a few feet above their heads. He wondered what Neal was thinking about his sudden disappearance. Vlad sighed and drew Danny's attention.

"Yes, yes." Vlad waved a dismissive hand, "You need to come with me Daniel. And don't argue. I don't have time to explain. You just need to trust me." Vlad crossed his hands behind his back and stared at Danny expectantly. Danny furrowed his brow and waited. Vlad raised an eyebrow questionably, as if wondering why Danny wasn't relenting and going with him.

"Are you serious? You just want me to come with you? No questions asked?" Danny growled, his fists glowing green. Vlad looked slightly taken aback.

"Of course! In case you haven't noticed you're in the middle of New York city. You need to put aside your ridiculous anger and come with me so we can figure out whats happened here." Vlad elaborated. Danny stared at him in disbelief. Ridiculous anger? _Trust _him? Danny was pretty sure he had absolutely _no _reason to trust Vlad and he was sure that all the anger he directed at the older man was completely justified.

"All I know is that, I woke up in a strange ghost cage, and the first ghost I see is _you._" Danny crossed his arms over his chest defiantly. "So no. I will not just trust you, and I will not be going anywhere with you." Vlad sighed, his shoulders slumping.

"I really don't have time to argue this with you. You are coming with me. Whether you want to or not."

"How about NOT." Danny shouted the last word and charged forward, his hands glowing green. Always the one to make the first move, Vlad evaded him easily. Vlad darted to the side and Danny sailed past him. Vlad reached out quickly and grabbed Danny by the ankle jerking him backwards. Danny let out a strangled yelp as Vlad swung him around and threw him into the nearest building, which just so happened to be Neal's house. Danny gasped in pain as his head cracked painfully against the brick building. He could feel wetness dripping down the back of his neck and he knew that he was bleeding. He wondered if Neal was inside his house by now and wondered if the criminal could hear what was going on outside his walls. Danny doubted it, the bricks were pretty solid. A fact reinforced when Vlad shot a pink ecto blast at Danny's head.. Danny saw the blast coming and dropped down to evade it, the pink blast left a scorch mark on the bricks, but they were left completely intact.

"Stop fighting with me Daniel." Vlad yelled. Darting forward and sending a glowing pink fist at Danny's head. Danny Lifted up both arms and blocked the hit, wincing as the ecto around Vlad's hands burned Danny's arms.

"Even if you were telling the truth..." Danny lifted up his leg and kicked Vlad in the chest. Vlad tumbled backwards and didn't have time to prepare himself for the green ecto blast that hit him square in the chest. Danny didn't let up. He flew forward and aimed his fist at Vlad's face, putting as much force as he could into the attack, he let green ecto encase his hand, hoping to do the most damage. "I wouldn't go with you!" Danny shouted, finishing his sentence. Vlad threw up a shield just in time to block the close ranged attack. Danny's hand hit the shield.

Hard.

The force of the impact sending a painful tingling sensation up Danny's arm. The shield dropped the instant Danny's momentum had been taken away and Vlad reached out quickly and grabbed Danny by the wrist. Bending it backwards, Vlad pulled Danny closer to him.

"You do not. Have. A. Choice." Vlad seethed, giving Danny's wrist a painful twist until a loud crack tore a scream from the younger halfa's lips. Vlad didn't let up. He wrapped his other hand around Danny's throat and squeezed, letting go of Danny's broken wrist as he did so. Danny reached up with the hand that wasn't broken and tried to pry Vlad's hand off of his neck. Vlad glared at the halfa and sent a wave of electricity into Danny's body. Danny scram in pain. His vision fading around the edges. Sensing that Danny had very little fight left, Vlad once again tossed Danny like he was a rag doll. This time though, Vlad tossed him upwards, so that Danny slammed into the underside of the concrete balcony that he had last seen Neal on. Danny gasped, staring down at Vlad with blurry vision. The young halfa was surprised he could keep himself floating. Vlad stared up at Danny. "Are you done being petulant?" He asked, his hands filling with pink energy. Danny took a shuddering breath.

"A-are you done being a fruit-loop?" Danny stuttered out, his body shaking with the effort of keeping himself afloat. Vlad's eyes glowed red at the comment and with an angry yell, Vlad blasted Danny with a powerful shot of ecto. Danny threw up a weak shield, that Vlad's blast easily destroyed. Danny scram again as the ecto blast hit him in the stomach, just as it did Danny turned himself intangible. The blast still managed to hit him, but the force behind it sent him flying through the balcony. Gasping painfully Danny realized he must of blacked out for a few seconds because he was laying on his back, staring up through teary eyes at Vlad.

"Daniel. This could have all been avoided." Vlad started, folding his hands behind his back. Danny groaned and looked around. He was on the balcony where he had left Neal. Turning his head to the left, Danny's breath caught in his throat. Neal was standing in the doorway leading to his house. His eyes wide, a glass of wine in one hand and a cellphone in the other.

"Phantom?" Neal's voice was hoarse and weak. Danny's head cleared at the sight of him. He had to protect Neal from Vlad. Turning his attention back to Vlad, Danny glared up at him. Vlad didn't even seem to notice Neal. Danny's right hand twitched as he tried to lift it. Seeing the movement Vlad lashed out and stomped down on Danny's hand. Danny choked back a cry of pain.

"Ah, ah. Don't make me break your other hand, Daniel." Vlad smirked triumphantly. Danny glared as Vlad raised his hand and directed it at Danny's stomach, at the same spot he had already hit with an ecto blast. "This will hurt. But it's for your own good." Vlad declared, his hand glowing. Danny closed his eyes and prepared for the blast, but just as Vlad was about to release it, a voice to his right shouted, causing Danny's eyes to snap open. It was Neal's voice.

"Hey! Catch!" Neal yelled and tossed an empty bottle of wine at Vlad. Vlad, caught off guard reflexively reached out and caught the bottle. Looking up at Neal in confusion. The slight distraction gave Danny the chance to yank his hand out from under Vlad's foot and roll to the side gracelessly. Vlad stumbled backwards, and sent a death glare at Danny, then at Neal. Vlad tossed the bottle of wine to the ground angrily, it shattered loudly, causing Neal to jump in surprise. Danny squared his shoulders. He knew he didn't have much fight left, Vlad was so much stronger than him. But, the halfa did have one thing that he knew even Vlad couldn't withstand.

Danny sucked in a deep breath, and unleashed his ghostly wail.

* * *

_And there you have it! Theeee second chaaapppptteeerr! wweeeee! Sorry it took a while for me to actually write this. But, at least I wrote it right!? Oh, and do forgive me for the fight scene. I was just going to kind of switch to Neals POV and then not write any fight scenes. You know, just make neal be all, "ohh what are those noises? Must be some fightin!" But that would have been cheating. SO this was my first time ever writing an actiony scene like that. Please tell me what you think I did that worked, and what I did that didnt work so well. _

_Constructive criticism is always welcome, thanks for reading, I'll try to get the next chapter out with in the week! :D_


	3. Adapting

_Sorry my homies. I try to update once a week, but I was just really busy this week with stuff. Well, When I say I try to update once a week, I guess that's not really true. My updating habits haven't been defined yet as ive only updated three times now... ahahhhh what am I even talking about?_

_All right. Next chapter just for youuu!_

* * *

Neal had gone straight to his expensive and delicious collection of wine after Danny had abruptly disappeared. He was determined to pour himself a glass, sit on the couch and try and forget absolutely everything ghost related that had happened to him today. He had no idea how much of this he should tell Peter, he knew he would have to tell his partner where he had been and what had happened, he just didn't know how much to tell him about the ghost. Neal sighed, he stood at the table, holding a bottle of Margaux Bordeaux and a wine glass, deep in thought. Right before Danny had been about to say his goodbye's he had suddenly disappeared. Neal wasn't quite sure what had happened, but it had looked like a big black blur had collided with Danny, causing them both to disappear. Neal set the glass down and pulled the cork out of the wine bottle. Pouring himself a glass, he sighed again and set the now empty bottle of Margaux Bordeaux down on the table in front of him. Any other day, he would have thrown it away to avoid making a mess.

But today had _not _been a normal day.

Neal stepped away from the table and faced the glass doors leading to the balcony. He hadn't closed them yet and cool air was blowing lazily into the room, causing Neal to shiver. Everything looked so normal, despite the abnormality of everything that had just happened, He walked over to the door idly. Just as he was about to reach for the handle, the phone in his pocket vibrated, dropping his hand away from the door and into his pocket Neal pulled out his phone and glanced at the caller ID.

It was Mozzie.

Neal smiled, slightly happy to see that his long time friend was concerned enough to call him up and make sure that Che hadn't killed him. He was just about to answer the phone when movement in front of him caught his eye. Looking up and out at the balcony, Neal watched as Danny Phantom slammed to the ground outside, not even ten feet away from him. The ghost boy lay on his side, his back towards Neal. There was blood soaking the back of his head and staining his brilliant white hair.

"What in the?" Neal took a quick step forward but hesitated, unsure what to do. He had just decided to go and check on the seemingly passed out boy when another ghost suddenly appeared by Danny's side. The other ghost, had pale blue skin, horrid red glowing eyes, and sharp vampire teeth. Neal retreated back to the door frame at the sight and watched as the new ghost placed a foot on Danny's shoulder and gave it a light kick, causing Danny to roll over onto his back limply. Neal gripped his glass of wine tightly in his hand, This new ghost looked nothing like Danny, where Danny could pass as an innocent teenage boy, this one could only be seen as a demonic vampire.

A monster. Something evil.

Neal swallowed thickly, maybe this new ghost _was _a demon. Maybe demons commonly attacked ghosts. Neal had no way to know, he had no idea what to believe anymore, there was a whole set of laws and rules and creatures in the world that he was just now learning about, so this demon could be anything. And, he had no idea what to do about it.

He watched silently as Danny's eyes cracked open slowly and connected with the demon standing above him. The demon said something quietly and Danny turned his head to the side, Neal could see Danny's unfocused eyes find him and suddenly fill with worry and slight panic. The unshed tears were blinked away in an instant.

"Phantom?" Neal's voice cracked and his brow furrowed, Danny looked like he was about to lose whatever fight he had found himself in. Danny's head snapped back to stare up at the demon and Neal was impressed to see the incredible determination and defiance there, despite the hopeless situation. Gulping fearfully, Neal stumbled back into his house. He knew he was probably most defiantly going to regret this, but Phantom obviously needed some kind of distraction. Neal set his glass of wine on the table carelessly, the glass almost toppled over, but managed to stay up right, only a few drops spilling. He tossed his phone onto the table next to it with a loud clatter. Neal winced, but didn't pause. He grabbed the empty bottle of Margaux Bordeaux from earlier and rushed back over to the door just in time to hear the demon speak, its voice like silk,

"This will hurt. But it's for your own good." the demon raised its arm, its hand glowing pink. Neal knew he needed to act quickly, he didn't know exactly what was going to happen. But he knew it was something bad.

"Hey! Catch!" Neal heard himself yell the words loudly and confidently, despite the lack of confidence he felt. He watched the empty wine bottle sail through the air, straight for the demon and hoped that the demon would react the same way as any other human person would react.

By catching the bottle.

Neal was surprised, and couldn't quiet hold back the grin that spread across his face when, not only did the Demon _catch _the bottle, but it stumbled enough to allow Danny the opportunity to roll away from it and stand up clumsily. Neal turned to watch Danny, the younger ghost, was slightly hunched over, and breathing raggedly. The sight made the smile drop right off of Neal's face.

Danny didn't look like he was capable of throwing a baseball, let alone a punch.

Frozen to the spot Neal had no clue what to do, the thought of just running away crossed his mind. He had abandoned ship plenty of times when a con had gone wrong in the past. But before he could put much more thought into anything, Danny took a deep breath of air, Neal didn't have to wonder what he was doing for long because a few seconds later,

Danny was making the most dreadful noise Neal had ever heard in his entire life.

The con man stumbled backwards, away from the terrible wailing and pressed his hands against his ears, trying to block out the sound. It was like listening to a million tortured souls all screaming together in unison, the noise was so grand that everything in its path was being ripped to shreds and destroyed before Neal's eyes.

How a sound could generate enough force to destroy things was beyond Neal. Not that he was paying much attention to the destruction of his property at the moment. The disorienting sound wasn't just loud, it was physical, and it was consuming all his attention.

Neal could feel the noise rattling his bones and shaking the glass doors. The noise did so much more then that though, it filled his stomach with dread, and made his heart beat frantically against his rib cage. it made his head feel as though someone was taking a sharp knife an was pushing it, slowly, into his skull, splitting it in half.

Neal felt cold all over, and he felt like screaming himself because the sound made him feel like his own soul was trapped and suffering and would always be suffering. He squinted and watched as the demon, who was standing directly in front of Danny got hit, full blast with the sound waves. The demon gasped and went flying backwards, smashing up the decorative stone railing, railing that was slowly being blasted away by the sound Danny was making.

The demon struggled to right itself, to fight the sound waves, but all it managed to do was stop itself from losing more ground. The demon didn't even seem capable of flying out of the path of the screaming. Neal watched the demon stumble to the ground, its legs giving out beneath it. It looked up at Danny, pain and fury in its eyes before slipping through the ground and disappearing. The second the demon winked out of sight, Danny stopped wailing.

Much to Neal's relief.

The con man, was panting hard, he hadn't realized how badly he had been effected, but now that everything was silent, Neal realized that he was shaking and his heart was still beating erratically. Gulping, Neal looked over at Danny. The ghost was swaying back and forth on his feet.

"What was that?" Neal asked, his words sounding far away, like he was speaking under water. Danny turned and made eye contact with Neal. His eyes half lidded with exhaustion. Danny opened his mouth and said something, but Neal couldn't hear it over the ringing in his own ears. Danny stumbled forward, blood dripping down his pale face and Neal had to resist the urge to back away from the ghoulish sight. Danny certainly looked like a ghost now, what with the dark bags around his eyes, head covered in blood and his stumbling jerky movements. This was the type of thing you would see in horror movies. It's what Neal expected of a ghost.

"I said, are you okay?" Danny asked, once he was closer to Neal. Neal blinked a few times, surprised by the question.

"I should be asking you that. What was that thing attacking you?" Neal asked, mostly concerned with if it would be coming back anytime soon. Danny chuckled drunkenly and smiled, his teeth stained with blood. Neal frowned, wondering when that had happened. Danny stumbled once again, but this time, he couldn't manage to keep his balance. Dropping to both knees the ghost's emerald eyes rolled backwards as he fell face first onto the ground.

Neal stiffened, wondering if a ghost could die twice when suddenly a bright ring of light appeared around the ghosts middle, split in two and changed the ghost's appearance. Neal watched apprehensively as the black and white jumpsuit was replaced with jeans and a white t-shirt. The brilliant white hair, stained with blood, changed to a dark inky black that made the blood stand out less and the slight unnatural glow that lit the ghosts body, suddenly vanished. Neal gaped at Danny. He looked one hundred percent human now and uneasy pit formed in the con mans stomach.

Once again, he had no Idea what to do.

Still a little dazed from Danny's wailing, Neal hurried to Danny's fallen form. He knelt down, ignoring his shaking legs and hesitantly placed two fingers on Danny's neck. Checking for a pulse, more out of habit then anything else. He withdrew his hand quickly when he felt a strong beating under his finger tips. Rolling Danny onto his back, so that he wasn't laying face down anymore, Neal tapped the boys face gently.

"Phantom? Hey? Wake up." Neal slapped the boys face a gently. Attempting to get any kind of response. Obviously the ghost was alive, seeing as he had a pulse. Neal rocked on the balls of his feet. If a ghost had a pulse, did that mean it had died? He wondered to himself, staring at Danny's face. Neal jumped suddenly when a loud cough in front of him caught his attention. His head snapping up, Neal looked up to see Mozzie staring, wide eyed and pale faced, down at him.

"Wh-what?" Mozzie's eyes swept the destroyed balcony and landed on the passed out and bleeding boy that Neal was kneeling over.

"It's a long story." Neal stood up, his knees cracking.

"I'll get the first aid kit?" Mozzie asked questionably, turning hesitantly towards the kitchen, where they kept the medical supplies. Neal sighed, and rubbed his hand over his face. Nodding slowly, grateful that Mozzie was the type to help first, and ask question later. Because this was going to take a lot of explaining.

* * *

Danny woke slowly. His senses coming back to him one at a time. The first thing he felt was the ach. His entire body hurt. It felt like he had no energy left for anything. Like he could sleep for forever. The exhaustion was something he had experienced before. He wasn't exactly sure why, but his ghostly wail often caused this feeling of exhaustion. Danny groaned and opened his eyes dizzily. He was in a dark room, on a very large bed with silk sheets and the softest, fluffiest blankets he had ever felt. Though the room was dark Danny could hear people whispering frantically to one another.

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head too?" A voice whispered loudly. Danny scanned the room. The bed sat next to a bookshelf and a couch and TV. There was also a kitchen on the other side of the room. The only door in the small house was next to the kitchen area and so Danny assumed that's where the voices were coming from.

"I know its hard to believe..." a deep and smooth voice responded, Danny instantly recognized that one as Neal's.

"Hard to believe? Neal. It's ridiculous." The other voice had stopped whispering and was talking agitatedly. Danny blew out a puff of air and suddenly realized that his head was wrapped up heavily in gauze.

"Just, trust me. When he wakes up, you'll see for your self." Neal wasn't whispering anymore either, but his voice was still hushed.

"I need a drink." The second mysterious voice suddenly gained a face as a short bald man with thick glasses trudged out of the door by the kirchen. His hands stuffed into his pockets indifferently. Noticing that Danny was awake, the man started badly and stumbled backwards into Neal, who was also leaving the room.

"Watch it Mozzie..." Neal snapped, pushing the smaller man off of him. Mozzie seemed to shake himself, distrust coloring his face.

"Your captive seems to of regained consciousness." Mozzie grumbled, heading toward a large collection of wine, never taking his eyes off Danny. Neal groaned,

"Would you stop calling him that. I didnt kidnap him." Neal snapped and walked over to Danny.

"If you didn't kidnap him then why was he all beat up and unconscious?" Mozzie quipped searching through all the bottles. Neal stopped midstride and turned to watch his friend.

"I told you, its because of the ghost vampire demon thing." Mozzie paused in his search for the perfect wine bottle and pursed his lips as if he was thinking.

"Nope. Kidnapped teenager seems more likely. Aha!" Mozzie seemed to find the bottle he was looking for and pulled it out carefully, heading to the kitchen, his prize in hand. Neal made a noncommittal noise and turned back to Danny.

"Whats going on?" Danny asked Neal as he approached. Neal smiled weakly.

"I have no idea." He shrugged and stood awkwardly next to the head of the bed, where Danny was relaxing into the pillows.

"Why am I in this bed?" Danny clarify. Neal seemed surprised at the question.

"Because you passed out." Neal chuckled nervously, "Stop acting so confused or my friend back there," Neal jerked his thumb in the general direction of Mozzie. The man was pouring himself a glass of wine slowly, still watching Danny skeptically. " Will think that I really did kidnap you." Neal pulled a chair away from the wall and sat down in it Danny frowned at him.

"I mean, why did you bandage me up and put me in your bed." The halfa asked, struggling to push himself up onto his elbows. Neal watched him, unsure.

"Because you were bleeding everywhere." He frowned deeply. " I don't know. How are you feeling anyway?"

"I'm fine." Danny gave up on trying to hold himself up when his arms began to shake too badly. Lowering himself slowly back onto the pillows Danny stared out a window. "Thank though." He mumbled, almost too quiet to be heard. Neal shook his head and reached out to check the bandages wrapped around Danny's head.

"It makes us even. You saved me from Che, and I saved you from bleeding out." Neal replied, non-pulsed when Danny dodged out of the way of Neal's checking hands.

"Whats his deal?" Danny asked, his eyes drifting over to where Mozzie sat at the kitchen table. Neal turned around in his seat. He watched Mozzie take a long sip from his wine. His eyes narrowed and never straying away from Danny. As if he was expecting the boy to suddenly jump up and attack.

"Ah, That's Mozzie. You'll get used to him." Neal explained. He hesitated slightly, "Uh, Phantom." He started staring down at the ground uncomfortably. Danny raised an eyebrow expectantly. Knowing what was coming next. Questions. Lots and lots of ghost related questions.

"Yeah?" Danny breathed out the word like a sigh. He wasn't about to give Neal the cold shoulder and start ignoring the guy. Not after the man had picked him up off the ground and bandaged him up. Danny was very grateful Neal hadn't called the police or something. Though, if the tracking anklet was anything to go by, Danny suspected that Neal wasn't a big fan of the police. Danny frowned, not sure if that was a good thing or not.

"What was that thing? That you were fighting I mean. Was it a demon?" Neal asked, staring at Danny inquisitively. Danny stared up at Neal's face for a few moments before a harsh laugh tore its way through his throat. Danny pulled his broken wrist up to his chest and held it there while he hacked out unpleasant sounding laughs that quickly dissolved into a ragged coughing fit. The ghostly wail had always done a number on his throat. Danny, raised a shaking hand to his face and wiped away the tears that had collected in the corner of his eyes. His body ached all over and when he refocused on Neal, he could see the confusion on the criminals face.

"See. I told you that you were crazy. Even that boy you've kidnapped thinks your crazy." Mozzie's voice floated over to them from the kitchen and even though Danny couldn't see the small mans face, he could defiantly hear the smugness in his voice. Neal turned around in his chair abruptly, no doubt to argue with Mozzie, but stopped when he heard Danny's protest.

"No, No. Its not that." Danny waited for Neal to turn back around in the chair before he continued. "Vlad's not a demon or anything like that. He's just the craziest, most obsessed ghost I have ever had to fight in my life." Danny explained. His voice raspy from his earlier coughing fit. Neal nodded slowly.

"Speaking of ghosts. And...Your life." Neal went back to staring at the ground awkwardly. "Why is it that you have a pulse?" he asked. Danny remained silent, internally debating how much to tell Neal. He ran his hand over the soft blankets, not looking at Neal. It was better if Neal didn't know, Danny reasoned. After all, he had just met him. Who knew how he would react if he knew that Danny was actually a living breathing teenager, with a dead not breathing ghost half. It was hard enough to explain to someone who _did believe_ in ghosts. Danny suspected Neal would have a harder time believing anything he had to say. Before Danny could even open his mouth to speak though, Mozzie spoke up. Suddenly at Danny's bedside, standing next to Neal.

"And how come you can bleed? Or, how come you breath or talk or sleep or feel pain. Aren't ghosts supposed to be more, chains rattling in the basement, not teenage passed out boy?" Mozzie asked, placing his hand on Neal's shoulder. "Is it because you're actually _alive _and not a ghost at all_?_" Mozzie asked, taking a sip of his wine.

"I-" Danny opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by Mozzie again,

"And how does a _ghost_" He spat the word out of his mouth like it tasted bad, "end up with a broken wrist, a concision, severe second degree burns on the abdomen and-" He paused and flapped his hand in Danny's general direction, disgust clear on his face, "And, whatever _illness _is causing that smokers cough." Mozzie tapped the now empty wine glass in his hand with his finger. Danny watched him a few moments, making sure he wasn't going to interrupt.

"I'm not exactly a normal ghost." Danny started, warring with himself internally. He wondered how much to tell them. He knew that with his new wounds he would have a hard time getting anywhere on his own. He needed their help, so he needed them to trust him. Mozzie seemed to deflate at Danny reveal.

"Ah, you're just as crazy as him!" He snapped, pointing an accusatory finger at Neal's head. Neal glared at it out of the corner of his eye.

"I'm not crazy." He grumbled unhappily before saying to Danny,

"Phantom. Show him something ghostly. So we can stop arguing about this." Neal suggested. Danny looked between the two. Revealing his powers to two strangers went against absolutely everything he had conditioned himself to do over the past few years. Though as long as they didn't know who his human half was, Danny suspected that revealing his ghost powers wouldn't be that big of a deal. Lifting his hand up Danny beckoned for Mozzie to come closer. Mozzie eyed the boy suspiciously.

"Come here, I'll show you." Danny raised an eyebrow and waited. Curiosity winning out, Mozzie walked over to the opposite side of the bed so that he could stand next to Danny's head, with out Neal getting in the way. Danny gestured for him to lean closer. Mozzie made a face, but leaned in anyway. Once his body was within touching distance, Danny reached out and, turning his hand intangible, reached through Mozzie's chest. Mozzie yelped and jumped backwards. He crashed into the wall behind him and dropped his wine glass. The glass shattered on the floor, but Mozzie didn't seem to notice. He was patting his chest as if he was looking for a hole.

"How did you do that!?" Mozzie asked, pressed up against the wall, stiffly.

"He's a ghost. I told you." Neal answered smugly, a slight smile on his lips. Danny looked over at the con man and smiled as well.

"Want to see more?" Danny asked mischievously lifting up his hand. He was enjoying Mozzie's reaction a little bit more then he probably should have. Mozzie narrowed his eyes, but remained silent.

"That was intangibility. This is called ecto energy." Danny explained, filling his palm up with glowing green ecto. Of course, normally he shot ecto from his hand in a deadly blast, but he didn't think these two needed to know about the more violent tendencies of his powers. Mozzie stared, both horrified and entranced by the light before Danny shuddered a bit and let the ecto ball flicker out of sight. He Let his hand drop to the blankets listlessly and relaxed into the pillows behind him, feeling more exhausted then when he had woken up.

"You okay?" Neal asked noticing something was wrong. Danny shrugged a shoulder.

"That last attack I did. Its called my ghostly wail. It takes a lot of energy." Danny explained quietly glancing over at Mozzie.

"Oh." was all Neal said, his eyes unfocused as he thought. Danny frowned.

"I think somethings wrong with your friend." He put in, his voice cracking slightly. Neal looked up worriedly. Mozzie was pressed against the wall, his eyes wide and his face pale.

"You okay there Moz?" Neal asked, standing up slowly. Danny made a face. It didn't look like the other guy was even breathing.

"I think he's in shock or something." Danny grumbled, watching for any kind of movement. Neal glanced at Danny, but didn't say anything. Instead he walked around the bed over to his paralyzed friend, avoiding the broken glass on the floor, he stood in front of Mozzie and snapped his fingers.

"Moz! HEY!" Neal watched for a response. He stumbled backwards when Mozzie smacked his hand away.

"You!" Mozzie yelled loudly. Neal raised his hands defensively.

"Moz?" He hazard.

"You-and that! And, Th-Tha- AUGH!" Mozzie couldn't seem to collect his thoughts enough to actually form a sentence. Seeming to not know what to say either, Neal just remained silent. Danny watched the two silently as well. Still amazed to be around people that couldn't process the revaluation of the existence of ghosts. It was bizarre how something so normal in Amity Park was so abnormal everywhere else. Finally, Mozzie seemed to give up trying to speak and shoved past Neal, heading for the door. Neal started and followed after him, forgetting about the broken glass on the ground. Mozzie was already slamming the door shut behind him by the time a shard of forgotten glass pierced Neal's foot, tearing a pain filled scream from his lips.

* * *

The moment that Neal had yelled, Mozzie had slammed the door back open to see what was the matter. His face was still set in an angry scowl as if he thought his friend was trying to trick him into coming back by yelling, but when he saw Neal, sitting on the bed at Danny's feet, hunched over his bleeding foot, Mozzie sighed and Neal looked up at him, hurt and angry.

"Dammit Moz! Will you just sit down and listen to me before you go running off!" He snapped, pulling a shard of glass out of the heel of his foot. Mozzie winced sympathetically but walked back into the room, shutting the door quietly behind him. Neal noticed that Mozzie was avoiding looking over in Danny's general direction.

"I'll get the first aid kit." Mozzie grumbled adding a petulant, "_Again." _before storming off into the kitchen.

It had taken ten minutes to get himself bandaged up and at least another thirty minutes to convince Mozzie that Danny being a ghost wasn't some weird prank or practical joke. By the time Neal had finished convincing Mozzie to sit down so they could listen to Danny explain himself properly, said ghost had fallen back asleep on the bed. Neal and Mozzie sat in an uncomfortable silence at the kitchen table. Waiting for the ghost to wake up.

"So you're saying that Che was trying to sell the boy to you?" Mozzie asked. He was on his third glass of wine, but he was finally seeming to calm down.

"Yeah. He said he had stolen him from some guy in Wisconsin." Neal explained. Taking a small sip of his own wine.

"What else can he do. Other then stick his hand through peoples bodies, I mean." Mozzie asked.

"Its weird. He seems less like a ghost and more like a teenager with super powers. He can fly and go invisible and he has some serious strength." Neal explained.

"And he can do something else, what did he call it, a wail?" Mozzie asked. Neal shuddered,

"Yeah. It was terrible sounding too Moz. It destroyed half the stuff on the balcony." He rubbed his forearms as if he was cold. "But the sound was god awful."

"Interesting." Mozzie leaned back in his chair, as if he was deep in thought.

"What are you thinking Moz?" Neal leaned forward and watched his friend apprehensively. He knew that look, and it made him nervous.

"I was thinking, that boy can walk through walls and he can turn invisible."

"And?" Neal asked, waiting for further explanation.

"Just that Che was right." Mozzie leaned forward and lowered his voice, explaining himself further at Neal's incredulous expression. "Think about it Neal. We could steal just about _anything _we wanted with him! We would never need to sneak into _anywhere_. We could just walk right in and take whatever we wanted!" Mozzie explained excitedly.

"What happened to Mr. I don't believe in ghosts this has to be a prank?" Neal asked, not exactly sure how to respond to Mozzie's sudden mood shift. Mozzie just shrugged.

"Its still weird, but look what we have! A ghost. Or some government genetically modified super weapon." Mozzie frowned. "Do you think hes a spy for the government?" The shorter man asked, leaning backwards and looking around Neal at the sleeping ghost. Neal rolled his eyes.

"No. I think he's a ghost." Neal stood up suddenly, the chair making a loud scraping sound as he pushed it backwards.

"What are you doing?" Mozzie asked. Standing up as well.

"We cant just sit around and make up theories about Danny. We need him to explain to us exactly what he is."

"What if he lies?" Mozzie pushed in his chair and waited for an answer. Neal smiled brilliantly at his friend.

"Then I'll be able to tell. You cant out lie a liar." Neal turned cautiously and limped over to the bed. Returning to the chair by the head of the bed, Neal plopped down into it. Mozzie came up beside him and stood awkwardly. Neal shot his friend a look, but didn't exactly know what to say. Mozzie nodded his head encouragingly and Neal reached out and grabbed Danny's shoulder. Shaking it lightly he attempted to wake the ghost up,

"Hey, Phantom. Wake up." Neal withdrew his hand quickly when Danny jolted upwards, looking around wildly before squeezing his eyes shut tightly and groaning in pain.

"Ow..." Danny grumbled, lowering himself back onto the bed slowly.

"You okay?" Neal asked, watching the boy with concern. Danny nodded.

"Head just hurt's." Danny looked up at the two of them with wide, confused eyes.

"You fell asleep while me and Moz were arguing." Neal explained. Danny just nodded his head and looked up at Mozzie.

"Sorry about, sticking my hand through you earlier. I probably should have...shown you my powers some other way or something." Danny apologized, looking sheepish. Mozzie regarded him wearily.

"No harm done ghost. OR should I say genetically modified government super weapon spy!" Mozzie exclaimed the last part of his sentence loudly and Neal sighed and rolled his eyes.

"What?" Danny pushed himself up onto his elbows and leaned up against the pillows so he wasn't laying down anymore.

"Just ignore him." Neal rolled his eyes towards the heavens again.

"Okay. Well, it's just that where I come from, Ghost's are a pretty normal occurrence. I didn't know you guys would be so freaked out by us." Danny explained simply. Neal stared at the ghost boy incredulously.

"Where exactly do you come from?" He asked. The ghost seemed to hesitate slightly before responding.

"Amity Park. There are lots of ghost's there. The school's and stuff even have ghost drill's along with fire and earthquake drill's. They're used to ghost's."

"Do ghost's fight with each other a lot in Amity Park?" Mozzie asked, walking around to the foot of the bed. Danny shrugged.

"Well, they fight with me a lot." They all fell into silence again and Mozzie was the first one to speak up.

"What did you mean when you said you're not a normal ghost." He asked. Neal watched Danny closely. He seemed to be fighting with himself internally. Neal narrowed his eyes, he recognized the look in Danny's eyes. It was the same look he had seen on many people where were trying to get their story straight inside their heads. Neal frowned slightly, he could tell Danny was going to lie to them.

"I meant that I'm not a normal ghost. I'm a new ghost! I just died a few years ago and I guess I'm still holding onto my humanity. Which is what keep's me good. Most ghost's don't have that. They get rid of it and then start haunting and tormenting people." Danny paused and Neal could see that look in his eye again, the ghost was trying to figure something out. Neal couldn't decide what it was though, It seemed like Danny was telling the truth, but Neal recognized that there was a small bit of something that was being left out.

"And you don't do that?" Neal asked, pressing Danny to continue after the ghost paused for a bit too long. If Neal could keep him talking then there was less of an opportunity for Danny to make up lies in his head.

"Torment people? No! I protect them. I try and stop the others from hurting the people!" Danny sounded defensive, like he had forgotten he was trying to be careful with his words. Neal smiled, he had to keep him talking.

"How do you know you wont just suddenly change?" He asked. Danny clearly felt strongly about himself staying good. Neal could see this and tried to poke at the soft spot to get more information. It seemed to be the wrong thing to ask about though, because Danny's face fell, and he slumped back into the pillow's, looking away from both men in the room.

"Because, I know what will happen if I do." Danny fell silent and Neal felt slightly bad for bringing it up. He was dieing to ask Danny more about how he could know such a thing, but the pain and suffering he saw in the ghosts eyes stopped him. Neal decided it would be best if he just changed the subject. Apparently, Mozzie thought the same because he cleared his throat, gaining both people's attention.

"I still don't understand ghost. What does any of that have to do with you being able to breath and bleed and sleep." Mozzie wondered, and crossed his arms over his chest. Waiting for his answer. Danny seemed to snap out of whatever dark place his thoughts had taken him and smiled,

"Oh right. Well, I am a ghost, but because I still have my humanity, I'm more human than ghost. I'm more like, a human with ghost powers. I'm a lot stronger then most ghosts, which is how I can protect Amity, but I also have human weaknesses." Danny leaned back into his pillows smugly and Neal could tell that Danny was keeping some pretty important secrets out.

And Neal was determined to figure those secrets out.

* * *

_Thanks for reading chapter three guys. Your feedback is ALWAYS welcome. No matter what you have to say... Well, as long as its constructive, I mean. _

_Anyway, next chapter coming your way soon._


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